BCMJ, Vol. 50, No. 1, January/February 2008, page(s) 11—Personal View
Doug W. McGhee, MD
10 steps to an eco-friendly BCMJ
Congratulations for using 30% recycled and FSC paper (see www.fsc.org) and vegetable-based ink. Please follow your further advice (BCMJ, 2007;49[9]:501): align the BCMJ with the current epoch in environmental health and make it the most Earth-friendly medical journal on the globe.
1. Use 100% post-consumer recycled, unbleached (or at least chlorine-free bleached) paper (BCMJ now uses 30% recycled paper).
2. Use local paper to reduce the carbon costs of transportation (the paper of this journal is trucked from Wisconsin).
3. Use no-clay paper (the 30% to 35% clay-content paper this is printed on increases recycling and transportation costs).
4. Find a local source for your vegetable-oil ink (which avoids the heavy metals and volatile solvents).
5. Eliminate plastic wrapping. I repeat, eliminate plastic wrapping.
6. Staple inserts into magazine; inserts that cannot be stapled in as a pull-out should be eliminated; the same environmental standards must apply to any inserts.
7. Offer members incentives to decline inserts (reducing carbon transportation costs).
8. Offer members incentives to receive BCMJ online (I admit it, I love reading your paper version).
9. Revise your BCMJ mission statement to include Earth-respecting values.
10. Model these to the world and celebrate your achievements by including a monthly eco-awareness section; this section shall highlight successive Earth-respecting achievements of the BCMA/BCMJ and a monthly eco-tip for hospitals and offices.
-Doug W. McGhee, MD
Victoria
